Aug 26 2009 Megan Fox is Catwoman, Unless 'The Sun' Somehow Has Their Facts Wrong/Fabricated
British tabloid The Sun is reporting that Megan Fox has been cast as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's follow-up to The Dark Knight, cleverly adding that they have "a strong feline she is the purrfect choice for the part." To sum things up for those of you who haven't been following every British tabloid casting announcement, the part of Catwoman will now be played by the ensemble of Angelina Jolie, Cher, Miley Cyrus, Julie Newmar, an actual cat, a CGI cat, a lab-created, actual cat-woman, a lady who just owns a lot of cats, Eddie Murphy, and Megan Fox.
(Thanks, Rosey.)
Jul 27 2009 Some Sort of Batmen Movie Might Be Coming Out Soon!
Hey, you like that Batman movie that was so popular last year? Then you might want to know that, speaking at a Book of Eli panel at Comic Con this weekend, Gary Oldman slipped up/completely made something up and answered a fan's question about a third Batman film. Regarding when it would start shooting, Commissioner Gordon said:
"The next 'Batman' is shooting next year. It's at least two years away."
Good news for both Batman fans and British tabloids, who now have a time frame in which to set their ridiculous, invented casting rumors. "Rick Springfield has been cast a Mr. Freeze in the new Batman film" will sound so much more legitimate when they add "which is shooting in 2010."
(Thanks, Jacqueline Hyde.)
Gary Oldman says next 'Batman' movie shooting in 2010 [Hitfix]
Dec 18 2008 Fact: Eddie Murphy, Shia LaBeouf in Next Batman
Tabloid magazine The Sun broke this huge story about Batman that, strangely, no one more respectable has heard about:
FUNNYMAN EDDIE MURPHY will play The Riddler in the next Batman movie, The Sun can reveal.The Beverly Hills Cop star, 47, has been signed up by British director CHRISTOPHER NOLAN to reprise the role played by JIM CARREY in 1995’s Batman Forever.
Execs have also signed up rising Transformers star SHIA LABEOUF, 22, to play Robin.
CHRISTIAN BALE will return as Bruce Wayne, while MICHAEL CAINE will again play Bruce’s assistant Alfred.
Meanwhile, Brit RACHEL WEISZ is said to be up for the Catwoman role.
I used to think these British tabloids were making these things up, but lately I'm wondering if it's possible they're just real fools. They get a phone call:
"Hello? Yes, speaking. You're an insider!? Go on. Eddie Murphy? Wow, that seems like it would completely go against everything Christopher Nolan has been doing with the series, but continue. Shia LaBeouf, you say? Spell that. OK, and just to confirm, you said you're definitely a film insider, right? You are? Wait, you sound a lot like the guy who told me last month that Angelina Jolie was going to be Catwoman. Oh, that was a different guy? OK then, sounds good. Thanks!"
I find that idea more believable than the notion that someone would legitimately think anyone would believe Eddie Murphy is playing The Riddler with Shia LaBeouf as Robin. Maybe Chris Tucker and the kid who played Anakin in The Phantom Menace, but not those two.
UPDATE: I didn't think I had to say it, but just to be clear, this is definitely not true.
Oct 27 2008 Nolan (Vaguely) Answers if He'll Direct Third Batman
Hey, grandchildren, do you still follow that cape man you liked so much? That... Batmin character? Oh, good, because Christopher Nolan has finally spoken on if he's doing a third Batmin movie! His answer: maybe. More specifically:
Well ... let me think how to put this. There are two things to be said. One is the emphasis on story. What’s the story? Is there a story that’s going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That’s the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs.] At the same time, in taking on the second one, we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie, and there haven't been too many of those either. It’s all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible. I hope that was a suitably slippery answer.
Maybe he's right. You can't always maintain the kind of third-chapter quality of an Austin Powers in Goldmember.
You can read the full interview here, thanks to illfigure.
Oct 8 2008 All Those Batman Rumors MIGHT Not Be Accurate
Dark Knight screenwriter David Goyer recently spoke to MTV about all the rumors of casting, story, and the involvement of Christopher Nolan circling the next Batman movie. Basically (literally) he says it's all bullshit:
Whether it’s that Chris Nolan has signed on, and will start pre-production early next year, or that Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman will play the villains, or that Cher (Cher!) is lining up to wear Catwoman’s claws, there’s one thing that each and every supposed scoop has in common, “Batman Begins” and “Dark Knight” storyman David Goyer told MTV News:“It’s all B.S.,” he said. “ALL of it.”
That means, no, Nolan has not signed on (yet). No, there is no casting, let alone TALK, of villains, and, no, nobody is certain to return.
“Chris and I haven’t even talked about it. He quite understandably is taking a long, long vacation and wants to purge himself,” Goyer said.
His choice of words is interesting: "long, long"... " "purge"...
Sounds to me like someone is hinting that they're adapting the Batman comic The Long Halloween into a film with America's Funniest Home Videos' and Dancing with the Stars' Tom Bergeron (berge sounds sort of like purge) as the Riddler. For some reason no other blogs seem to have caught that, but I'm picking up what you're laying down, David Goyer.
Aug 27 2008 Christopher Nolan Might Not Have Actually Thought Much About Third Batman Yet
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, The Dark Knight producer Chuck Roven has implied that, despite the inevitability of Cher's casting as Catwoman, director Christopher Nolan may not actually be signed on for a third Batman:
Warners and Legendary are both interested in doing a third in the series, but all involved say it will be up to Nolan to come to them with a story and a plan."There are a lot of us who emotionally would love to do it," Roven says. "But it's really Chris' call. Chris is the kind of filmmaker who just doesn't think about the next movie before he has completely finished the movie he is working on."
For now, Nolan is taking a well-earned vacation.
Says Roven, "When he comes back, we will see how he feels."
Does this mean Cher herself will be directing in Nolan's absence? I'm pretty sure that's what they're saying. So there it is: Nolan is leaving, Cher is stepping in, and this guy is the new Batman, making Ledger's Joker suddenly seem far less disturbing.
Aug 25 2008 More Baseless Batman Casting Rumors: How About Cher as Something?
Christopher Nolan has figured out how to win back the super-gay stereotype demographic that he lost when he took the nipples off the Batsuit: cast Cher as Catwoman. That sounds real. From the ever-reputable Telegraph celebrity news column, compliments of Dano:
The 62-year-old singer and actress is reported to be in talks to play Catwoman opposite Christian Bale in the third Batman film from British director Christopher Nolan.The Oscar-winner will join a cast that includes Johnny Depp as The Riddler as she plays the whip-carrying burglar. The character has also been played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry.
A studio executive said: "Cher is Nolan's first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years.
Filming of the new Batman instalment, provisionally entitled The Caped Crusader, is due to begin in Vancouver early next year.
So there you have it. Cher is definitely Catwoman, joining Johnny Depp, who is without-a-doubt Riddler, in the new Batman, which surely has the working title of The Caped Crusader. Those are new facts to add to the part of your brain that stores absolute truth.
Oct 31 2007 Why So Serious? - The Joker Assigns Homework
For the last two weeks, The Dark Knight viral site Why So Serious? has been counting down to Halloween with the image of a pumpkin, candle burning inside, one half deteriorating at roughly the same rate as my interest.
Finally, something has happened, and a Warner Bros. intern posing as The Joker has posted clues to find in cities around the US. As part of an elaborate homework assignment, you go to the location described, take a picture of the letter there, upload it, and it joins the others on the collaged page. Presumably, something will be given to us when it's done, like more laborious tasks to complete.
Thus far, it appears the final text will say, "THE ONLY SENSIBLE WAY TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD IS WITHOUT RULES." Which makes sense, because I've always thought Joker would sound a lot like a No Fear t-shirt.
/Film has been doing a good job covering it, if you want to follow along.
Oct 18 2007 The Joker's Latest Nefarious Plan: Pumpkin Carving
When Warner Bros. first started the Dark Knight viral site whysoserious.com, meant to be the Joker's way of connecting to the Internet Generation, it showed us many disturbing aspects of the villain. We saw his defacement of a Harvey Dent campaign poster, insane laughter (in the form of "ha" typed out in different sizes and mixed caps, to show it's crazy), and images of the criminal's own scarred smile. We got the idea that this guy was sort of nutty, and likes transcribing his laughter.
But this latest feature, a Flash animation of a pumpkin carved with a grinning bat mouth, equal parts Martha Stewart and web designer, seems to be drifting from maniacal stunt to the territory of desperate cry for attention. Are we meant to believe the Joker paused his murder spree to intricately carve a pumpkin, videotape it, digitize that, then convert it to a Flash animation for web publication? I don't know if it would more or less pitiful if we're meant to think he's commissioned someone else to do it.
Why So Serious? [Official Site]
Aug 30 2007 Batman Blows Up Building
Normally I reserve posts about buildings exploding for my other blog, "Buildings Exploding and Trucks Rolling Over," but this one is special: it's Gotham General Hospital! Yes, the very place where Bat-Luke and Bat-Laura married all those years ago is now minus one parking structure. Watch carefully and you'll notice the guy to the left of the frame punches his fist in the air after the largest blast. That's how awesome explosions are.
Aug 27 2007 EXCLUSIVE: The Dark Knight Spy Report
Thanks to my super-secret connections, I've heard some reports of what was shot on The Dark Knight this weekend, and it's some fairly heavy stuff. How heavy? Fatty Arbuckle heavy. Heavy enough that I'm forced to hide it behind a cut to keep the spoiler-hating community from destroying me.
Learn Anthony Michael Hall's role, who that crazy Joker shoots at, and other top secret mysteries under the cut!
Aug 17 2007 The Dark Knight Production Photos
A ton of new production photos from The Dark Knight have been leaked and they look pretty exciting. You can view them all after the jump, but some might contain spoilers so be warned. And I don't want to ruin anything for you, but I have it on pretty good authority that The Joker makes an appearance in this one. Yeah, I've got friends in some pretty high places.
EDIT: Got a notice from Warner Bros. to take the pictures. This gets a frowny face. =(
Jul 27 2007 A Bunch of Dark Knight Stuff
With the launch of another new viral marketing site by Warner Bros, supposedly made by The Joker, and more being done at ComicCon, new Dark Knight stuff has been flooding in.
You can apparently get an official HD copy of the already-leaked teaser trailer here, and there are more images and promo materials here. As a warning, I haven't finished downloading the trailer yet, so don't blame me if it's just more chipmunks eating poop.
Jul 26 2007 Dark Knight Trailer is Hella Blurry
Here's an awful bootleg of the Dark Knight teaser trailer. You'll probably be all pissed at the crappy quality until you realize it's just sound over a Batman logo anyway. Supposedly it's going to play in front of the Simpsons movie tomorrow. HOLY CRAP I CAN'T CONTAIN MY BOUNDLESS EXCITEMENT! :-0 :-0 :-0
Jul 17 2007 More, Better Looks at Joker
Yes, someone has gotten slightly closer to the set of The Dark Knight and grabbed even more shots of the anticipated villain. Until Warner Bros. supplies us with the quality and quantity of pictures expected from Sears Portrait Studio, expect more of the same. This one gives a better idea of the costume and the manner in which Joker requests sexual favors.
In addition, this Chicago Fox affiliate nabbed some additional Joker footage where he's standing around. I won't be happy until someone gets a "nip slip."
Jul 16 2007 Small, Grainy Shot of Joker
Since I'm still willing to grab at any pathetic, Batman-themed carrot dangled in front of me, here's a super-secret shot taken from set of The Dark Knight. It's either Heath Ledger as The Joker, his stunt-double as The Joker, or the ghost of Brandon Lee, come to haunt the set and ensure proper firearm safety.
Also, MTV has confirmed Two-Face will appear in the film, bringing the official villain count to somewhere between "too many" and "a shit-ton."
Jul 9 2007 Two-Face AND Riddler in Dark Knight?
Following earlier rumors that Anthony Michael Hall would play Edward Nygma in The Dark Knight that I took with a grain of salt, more reports are apparently coming in that he actually is in the Riddler role after all. Go figure.
Furthermore, spies near the Batman set are saying they've seen Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in full (half?) Two-Face makeup, meaning the dramatic transformation to villain may indeed occur in this chapter.
This brings the villain list to:
- The Joker (confirmed)
- Scarecrow (nearly confirmed?)
- Edward Nygma, AKA The Riddler (rumored)
- Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face (confirmed, but maybe not as villain yet)
- Hitler (confirmed as villain, but primarily versus Jews)
- Heart Disease (still America's greatest killer; unconfirmed in Batman, confirmed in burgers, bacon)
- Yourself (somehow you always knew it)
Jun 22 2007 Scarecrow is Totally in The Dark Knight
A "spy" (nerd with camera) in Chicago managed to sneak some footage of The Dark Knight being shot, and it appears, dear readers, that Scarecrow is returning. Cillian Murphy was on the set to reprise his role as the villain for the Family Guy-style flashback scene after Batman says, "Hey, remember when I beat the Scarecrow with the help of Gary Coleman?"
See actual moving (but pointlessly distant) footage under the cut.
Continue Reading " Scarecrow is Totally in The Dark Knight "
Jun 18 2007 The Dark Knight Rides a Bike
The guns on the batbike can by operated by speaking the magic words "Pew pew pew!"
The L.A. Times has two new pictures from The Dark Knight of the bat bike, or "Batpod" as it's referred to in the movie. I've managed to combine the two pictures here for easy browsing, utilizing Photoshop skills the likes of which the world has never seen.
It's hard to see from the picture, but the Batpod actually has a chain link steering wheel and a rack for mounting a boombox from which to blast Cypress Hill while cruising through East L.A. Odelay, guey!
Jun 15 2007 Batman's New Suit
Someone named Zejr's subscription to Entertainment Weekly brings us the first look at the new Batman costume from The Dark Knight, the first of many ploys to sell nerds and children more action figures. The updated suit has a more segmented look and a separate, motorcycle helmet-style headpiece that will finally allow the caped crusader to turn his head. Here's one dude that's done with verbal negatives--it's all head shaking from here on out.
